Dual connector plate

ABSTRACT

A system and method for connecting an advanced electronic module to a legacy chassis is presented. In one embodiment, a connector plate comprises a plate bracket, a module connector, at least two chassis connectors and route logic. The plate bracket has a front side, a back side and an opening. The module connector connects to an electronic module within the opening. The at least two chassis connectors are located on the back side of the bracket plate and are configured to be connected to a legacy chassis or and advanced chassis. The legacy chassis and the advanced chassis do not expect signals from the same number chassis conductors. The routing logic routes signals from the module connector to each of the at least two chassis connectors.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 61/484,427, filed May 10, 2011 and U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 61/486,798, filed May 17, 2011; the disclosures of which are bothincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The current invention relates generally to apparatus, systems andmethods for connecting electronic equipment. More particularly, theapparatus, systems and methods relate to connecting newer electronicmodules with legacy electronic modules. Specifically, the apparatus,systems and methods provide for a dual connector plate that can connecta new electronic module that only requires one connector port with alegacy electronic module that requires two connector ports.

2. Description of Related Art

Complex projects that involve computers, networks, communicationdevices, security/encryption and the like are often developed over manyyears or decades. For example, the Department of Defense's (DoD's) JointTactical Radio System (JTRS), including its ground mobile radios (GMRs),is one such example system. The (JTRS) is considered a pivotaltransformation program within the DoD and is a joint service initiativethat addresses the growing need for integrated air, ground, and seacommunications systems which enable a network-centric capability forjoint taskforces and multinational coalitions to conduct efficient andeffective military operations.

As part of the JTRS program, a next generation field able mobile ad hocnetwork was designed and implemented with up to 1620 moving nodes perself-forming, self-configuring, self-healing network. Called a Wide BandNetworking Waveform (WNW), this networking stack will initially tietogether all Army vehicles in a dynamic multi-hop network and will laterbe extended to directional links and other platforms such as those forthe Air Force and Navy. The WNW represents the state-of-the-art in termsof balancing quickly realizable networking protocols for today's Army aswell as incorporating DARPA-level innovations that allow the network toeasily scale to thousands of nodes.

There are several advanced features of the DoD's JTRS program. Forexample, it has an open architecture designed to support DoDcommunications from the ground to the space environment. It issoftware-programmable, multi-band, multimode radio, interoperable acrossthe spectrum of operations and across services. The JTRS programprovides for improved connectivity through link availability andreliability. It has optimized bandwidth utilization while maintaininghigh security requirements; security through use of HAIPE(high-assurance IP-based encryption). It provides for networkmanagement, with rerouting and retransmission, that improves operatorefficiency, reduces errors, and results in increased situationalawareness, enabling rapid access to forces. Additionally, the JTRSprogram provides full multimedia communications: voice, data, and videothroughputs unavailable in legacy systems. To allow for the developmentand improvement of this system over many years, the JTRS programprovides for a capability-based technology-insertion migration path withmodular, scalable design that reduces lifecycle costs.

However, even developing a large project over several years that has acapability-based technology-insertion migration path with modular,scalable design that reduces lifecycle costs still can have manyproblems that can slow down its progress. For example, while each of theground Mobile Radios (GMRs) is a highly flexible communication system,its high processing capability consumes significant power resulting inheat that is dissipated using large heat sinks and fans for cooling.Given a novel cooling approach targeted to processing elements such asmicroprocessors, RF/analog circuitry and other electronic devices, it ispossible to reduce its size and weight. Lower internal temperatureswould also increase GMR reliability. While there are many coolingapproaches, it must support operational and maintenance in a Militarytactical environment that include altitudes up to 15,000-ft, operatingtemperatures −40° C. to +55° C., storage temperatures of −55° C. to +71°C., driving rain and dust storms, corrosive environments such assalt-sea atmospheres, and can withstand indirect shock. The system needsto be safe and promote easy operation and maintenance in theseenvironments by trained military personal.

The main component of a GMR is a Joint Tactical Radio (JTR) whichconsists of a Ground Vehicular Adapter (GVA) and up to five LineReplaceable Units (LRUs). The GVA is the card cage to interconnect LRUs,providing backplane, backplane connectors, power supply and additionalmiscellaneous active circuitry consuming significant power. There arethree main LRUs types that are plugged into the GVA, the Network InfosecUnit (NIU), the Universal Transceiver (UT), and a Power Amplifier (PA).Each LRU is enclosed to withstand an immersion in water requirement andhas its own heat sink. The NIU consists primarily of digital circuitrywith many high speed processing elements and draws approximately 110Watts. The UT consists of both RF/Analog and digital circuitry withmultiple high speed processing elements. There are multiple PAsconsisting of primarily RF/Analog circuitry with at least one processingelement for control. While newer electronic modules are available thatimprove over legacy electronic modules, the newer electronic modules areoften incompatible with legacy chassis out in the field. A newerelectronic module simply cannot be delivered to the field and connectedto a legacy chassis. Therefore, a better way to connect newer electronicmodules with legacy chassis is needed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The preferred embodiment of the invention includes a connector plate forconnecting an advanced electrical module to a legacy chassis. In oneembodiment, a connector plate comprises a plate bracket, a moduleconnector, at least two chassis connectors and route logic. The platebracket has a front side, a back side and an opening. The moduleconnector connects to an electrical module within the opening. The atleast two chassis connectors are located on the back side of the bracketplate and are configured to be connected a legacy chassis or an advancedchassis. The legacy chassis and the advanced chassis do not expectsignals from the same number chassis connectors. The route logic routessignals from the module connector to each of the at least two chassisconnectors.

In another configuration of the preferred embodiment, the connectorplate can include a dummy connector. The dummy connector is located onthe front side of the bracket plate provides physical support to anotherelectronic module such as a power amplifier (PA). The dummy connectorcan have metallic plating that is a metal such as nickel and the dummyconnector can be electrically grounded.

Other embodiments of the connector plate can include other usefulcomponents and features. For example, a sealing ring can be included onthe front side of the plate bracket and around the opening on the platebracket to create a water tight seal with the electrical module when theconnector plate is connected to the electrical module. The connectorplate can include a printed circuit board (PCB) with the routing logicprinted on the PCB and with the chassis connector mounted on the PCB.The PCB can be placed between the at least two chassis connectors andthe plate bracket. A gasket can be placed between the PCB and the atleast two chassis connectors and sealing ring can be located between themounting bracket and the back side of the mounting plate to provide awater tight connection between the gasket and the mounting bracket.

In another configuration, the connector plate chassis connectors includea first chassis connector and a second chassis connector. The routinglogic includes wiring to route a first set of signals from the moduleconnector to the first chassis connector and wiring to route a secondset of signals from the module connector to the second chassisconnector. The first set of signals can be radio transmit signals andthe second set of signals can be radio receive signals.

Another configuration of the preferred embodiment is a system forconnecting an electronic module to a legacy chassis. The system includesfirst and second connectors for connecting to two connectors on thelegacy chassis. The system further includes a dual connector plate witha back side and a front side including a chamber with an opening in thefront side of the dual connector plate. An electronic module connectorextends at least partly from the back side into the chamber with theelectronic module connector configured to connect to a complementaryconnector in the electronic module. Wires route signals from theelectronic module connector to the first chassis connector and otherwires route signals from the electronic module connector to the secondchassis connector. The wires routing signals from the electronic moduleconnector to the first chassis connector route different signals thanthe wires routing signals from the electronic module connector to thesecond chassis connector.

In other configurations, the system includes a filler device configuredto fill a space not occupied by the electronic module when theelectronic module is connected to the dual connector plate and the dualconnector plate is connected to the legacy chassis. The filler devicecan be a block-shaped filler device and include air vent openings atleast partially complementary and adjacent to cooling areas on theelectronic module. Attachment devices such as screws can rigidly attachthe filler device to the electronic module.

One example configuration of the system includes a blank connector onthe front side of the dual connector plate and adjacent the opening. Theblank connector is opposite the first chassis connector that is on theback side of the dual connector plate. The blank connector can be shapedto provide physical support to an electronic module the does not requirean electrical connection to the blank connector.

Another configuration of the preferred embodiment is a method ofconnecting an electronic module to a legacy chassis. The method connectsa connector in the electronic module to an electronic module connectoron a connector plate. The method connects a first chassis connector onthe connector plate to a first connector on the legacy chassis and asecond chassis connector on the connector plate to a second connector onthe legacy chassis. At least one signal is routed from the electronicmodule connector to the first chassis connector and at least one signalis routed from the electronic module connector to the second chassisconnector. At least one signal routed to the second chassis connector isdifferent than at least one signal routed to the first chassisconnector. For example, radio transmission related signals can be routedfrom the electronic module connector to the first chassis connector andradio reception related signals can be routed from the electronic moduleconnector to the second chassis connector.

In one configuration of the method, the electronic module is positionedso that it is lined up with the first chassis connector and is behindthe first chassis connector and is not lined up with the second chassisconnector and is not behind the second chassis connector. The method canalso attach a second electrical module to a dummy connector on theconnector plate so that the second electrical module is lined up withand behind the second chassis connector and does not communicate anycommunication signals to the dummy connector. The dummy connector can begrounded.

A spacer device can be attached to the electronic module to fill an areaassociated with the legacy chassis not occupied by the electronicmodule. The electronic module can be cooled through cooling paths cutinto the spacer device.

The method can also include removing the electronic module and theconnector plate from the legacy chassis. Next, a legacy electronicmodule that has first and second legacy connectors can be installed inthe legacy chassis by connecting the first and second legacy connectorsof the legacy electronic module to the first and second chassisconnectors of the legacy chassis without using the connector plate.

Another example method of the preferred embodiment of the methodincludes a method of connecting an improved electronic module to alegacy chassis. The method includes removing a legacy module from thelegacy chassis. The legacy module is an older module that communicateswith legacy chassis through at least two legacy module connectors on thelegacy module and at least two chassis connectors on the legacy chassis.Next, a connector plate with a front side and a back side is attached tothe improved electrical module that communicates to the front side ofthe connector plate with fewer than the at least two legacy moduleconnectors. The method attaches the connector plate and the improvedelectrical module to legacy chassis so that an equal number ofconnectors on the back side of the connector plate communicate with anequal number of legacy chassis connectors on the legacy chassis.

The attaching of the connector plate and the improved electrical modulefurther includes attaching the improved electronic module behind some ofthe equal number of legacy chassis connectors on the legacy chassis sothat it does not occupy area behind all of the equal number of legacychassis connectors on the legacy chassis. A passive electronic modulecan be attached to a dummy connector on the connector plate so that thepassive electronic module is directly behind at least one chassisconnector that the improved electrical module is not directly behind.The dummy connector can be grounded so that the passive electronicmodule does not electrically communicate with the dummy connector.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

One or more preferred embodiments that illustrate the best mode(s) areset forth in the drawings and in the following description. The appendedclaims particularly and distinctly point out and set forth theinvention.

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate various example methods, and otherexample embodiments of various aspects of the invention. It will beappreciated that the illustrated element boundaries (e.g., boxes, groupsof boxes, or other shapes) in the figures represent one example of theboundaries. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that insome examples one element may be designed as multiple elements or thatmultiple elements may be designed as one element. In some examples, anelement shown as an internal component of another element may beimplemented as an external component and vice versa. Furthermore,elements may not be drawn to scale.

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate how an advanced electronic module can beconnected to an advanced electronic chassis.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate the preferred embodiment of how an advancedelectronic module be connected to a legacy electronic chassis.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example exploded view of a dual connector plate.

FIGS. 4A-B illustrate example views of two different mounting devicesand FIG. 4C illustrates a surface of an electronic module where theycould be mounted.

FIG. 5 illustrates another possible configuration of connecting anelectronic module to a legacy chassis with a jumper connector(s).

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a method for connecting anelectronic module to a legacy chassis.

Similar numbers refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1A illustrates an electronic system 1 that illustrates how anadvanced electronics module 15 can be connected to an advancedelectronic chassis 3. For example, the advanced electronics module 15can be a transceiver that both transmits and receives wireless signals.The advanced electronics module 15 has a back end 17 and a front end 19.The back end 17 has a single connector 21 and the front end 15 can haveone or more coaxial connectors 23. FIG. 1B illustrates a perspectiveview of the back end 17 of the advanced electronics module 15. This viewalso shows how connector 21 is mounted on a mounting bracket 20 that canbe attached to the back end with bolts 22. Of course, in otherembodiments, the front end 19 and the back end 17 can have otherconnectors and/or different types of connectors.

The advanced electronic chassis 3 has a front end 5 and a back end 7.The front end 5 is illustrated with two connectors 9, 10 but could beillustrated with a different number and/or different types ofconnectors. The advanced electronics module 15 can be attached to theadvanced electronic chassis 3 by sliding the advanced electronics module15 in the direction of the arrows so that the connector 21 of theadvanced electronics module 15 lines up with connector 9 of the advancedelectronic chassis 3. These units can be further pushed together so thatthese connectors are physically and electrically connected. For example(and as previously mentioned), the advanced electronic module 15 couldbe an advanced transceiver that contains both a transmitter and areceiver. The advanced electronic chassis 3 could be a modern unit thathas connections for both transmitter signals and receiver signals at oneconnector (connector 9). The advanced base unit 3 may containelectronics for processing transmitted and received signal from theadvanced electronic module 15.

However, often the electronic chassis that the advanced electronicmodule 15 is to plug into may be a legacy chassis. As mentioned in theBackground section, this can be because the electronic system that theadvanced electronic module 15 is to plug into is a complex systemdeveloped and improved over years and decades. For example, the systemmay be similar to the DoD's Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) that canat any time be combination of legacy hardware/software and more advancedhardware/software. When the advanced electronic module 15 is to pluginto a legacy electronic chassis, the legacy chassis will not functionwith the advanced electronic module 15. This is because, for example,that the legacy base electronic device is expecting transmitter signalsto be received on one connector and receive signals on a separate secondconnector.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate the preferred embodiment of an electronicsystem 200 that allows for connecting an advanced electronic module 15(as discussed above with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B) to a legacyelectronic chassis 203. The connector 21 of the advanced electronicmodule 15 of FIGS. 1A and 1B has been removed and an adapter plate 40 isnow visible as shown best in FIG. 2B. The adapter plate 40 has anopening 41 that provides access to an internal connector 42 of theadvanced electronic module 15. The adapter plate 40 can be designed witha variety of screw holes 44 so that a variety of connectors andconnector plates can be mounted onto the adapter plate 40. In order toallow different connector plates such as the dual connector plate 30shown in FIG. 2A to be attached to the adapter plate 40, the adapterplate 40 can be shaped with different shapes and different screw holepatterns. This ensures that when the adapter plate 40 is used withauxiliary electronic devices they can communicate with a legacyelectronic chassis 203 (when used with a dual connector plate attachedto the adapter plate 40) or can communicate with an advanced electronicchassis 3 (without using a dual connector plate attached to the adapterplate 40).

The legacy electronic chassis 203 has a front end 205 and a back end207. Two connectors 209, 210 are located on the front end 205. Thisexample legacy electronic chassis 203 expects receive signals onconnector 209 and transmit signals on connector 210. However, theadvanced electronic module 15 supplies both transmit and receive signalson single internal connector 42 that cannot connect to both connectors209, 210 of the legacy electronic chassis 203. To overcome this problemof connecting advanced hardware to legacy hardware, a dual connectorplate 30 is used. The dual connector plate 30 includes a dummy connector32 and an opening 34 providing access to connector 36 that is mountedwithin the opening 34 of the dual connector plate 30. The connectorplate 30 illustrates an example plate that is used to connect anadvanced electronic module 15 with one connector 21 (FIGS. 1A and 1B) tolegacy chassis 203 that is using/expecting two connectors 209, 210 (FIG.2A). Of course, even though the Figures illustrate a connector plateused to merge two legacy base electronic device connectors for use witha single advanced auxiliary electronic device connector, more than twolegacy base electronic device connectors could be merged to one or moreadvanced auxiliary electronic device connectors.

Having introduced the dual connector plate 30 and the adapter plate 40,it is helpful to now describe their use before describing their furtherdetails. In use, when the advanced electronic module 15 is to beconnected to a legacy electronic chassis 203, the connector 21 (FIGS. 1Aand 1B) of the advanced electronic module 15 is first removed. Next, thedual connector plate 30 is attached to the advanced electronic module 15with screws or in another way. Now the advanced electronic module 15 andconnector plate combination can be attached to the legacy electronicchassis 203 and the dual connector plate 30 ensures compatibilitybetween the advanced electronic module 15 and the legacy electronicchassis 203.

FIG. 3 illustrates additional details of the preferred embodiment of adual connector plate 30. The dual connector plate includes a dualconnector plate bracket 50, a printed circuit board (PCB) 52, twoexternal connectors 53 and 54, a gasket 56, a sealing ring 58 as well asthe dummy connector 32 and opening 34 to connector 36 mentioned earlier.Connector 36 is mounted on the PCB 52 and one set of signals are broughtfrom connector 36 to external connector 53 and another set of signalsare brought from connector 36 to external connector 54. As mentionedearlier, the advanced electronic module 15 may be a transceiver withboth transmit and receive signals at single connector 36 and the legacyelectronic chassis 203 may be expecting receive related signals atconnector 210 and transmit related signals at connector 209. In thisexample situation, the PCB 52 would be configured to bring the receiverelated signals from connector 36 out to connector 54 and the transmitrelated signals out to connector 53.

When an advanced electronic module 15 is attached to the dual connectordevice 30 and plugged into the two connectors 209, 210 of the legacychassis 203, there is an unoccupied space behind the dummy connector 32and beside the advanced electronic module 15. However, some devices suchas a power amplifier (PA) do not need electrically connected to thelegacy chassis 203 and therefore can be physically connected to thedummy connector 32 and occupy this unused space.

The gasket 56 is mounted between connectors 53, 54 and the PCB 52. ThePCB 52 is mounted between the gasket 56 and the dual connector platebracket 50. The sealing ring 58 can be located between the gasket 56 andthe dual connector plate bracket 50. The PCB 52 can be attached to thegasket 56 using screws 60 and the connectors 53, 54 and gasket can beattached to the dual connector plate bracket using other screws 62. Thesealing ring 58 can be located between the gasket 56 and can create adual connector plate 30 that when assembled is waterproof and airtight.For example, this may allow the dual connector plate to operate in amilitary tactical environment that include altitudes up to 15,000-ft,operating temperatures −40° C. to +55° C., storage temperatures of −55°C. to +71° C., driving rain and dust storms, corrosive environments suchas salt-sea atmospheres, and withstand indirect shock.

Sometimes an advanced electronic module 15 is to replace an olderelectronic module that was taller than the newer electronic module 15.In this case, there may be free space below the electronic module 15after it is plugged into the legacy electronic chassis 203. To alleviatethis problem, another configuration of the preferred embodiment uses anadaptive mounting device 70 as shown in FIG. 4A. This adaptive mountingdevice 70 is mounted onto the bottom side 68 of the advanced electronicmodule 15. For example, screws can be inserted through holes 74 andscrewed into screw holes 69 on the bottom side of the adaptive mountingdevice 70. A lock tab 71 in combination with a thumb screw can be usedto quickly fasten the electronic module 15 to the legacy electronicchassis 203. Air vents 76 can be formed in the adaptive mounting device70 to ensure the electronic module 15 is still cooled. The adaptivemounting device 70 of FIG. 4A is used to fill about a half inch extraspace below the electronic module 15. FIG. 4C illustrates an adaptivemounting device 80 that could be used to fill about four inch extraspace below the electronic module 15. The device has a flange 82, screwholes 83 and vents similar to adapted mounting device 70.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example system 400 of connecting a newerelectronic module with a legacy chassis. The system includes a jumpercable, UPA guide pins and a float connector among other items. Thisfigure is not discussed in any further detail.

Example methods may be better appreciated with reference to flowdiagrams. While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, theillustrated methodologies are shown and described as a series of blocks,it is to be appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by theorder of the blocks, as some blocks can occur in different orders and/orconcurrently with other blocks from that shown and described. Moreover,less than all the illustrated blocks may be required to implement anexample methodology. Blocks may be combined or separated into multiplecomponents. Furthermore, additional and/or alternative methodologies canemploy additional, not illustrated blocks.

FIG. 6 illustrates the preferred embodiment as a method 600 ofconnecting an improved electronic module to a legacy chassis. The method500 includes removing a legacy module from the legacy chassis, at 602.The legacy module is an older module that communicates with legacychassis through at least two legacy module connectors on the legacymodule and at least two chassis connectors on the legacy chassis. Aconnector plate with a front side and a back side is attached, at 604 tothe improved electrical module that communicates to the front side ofthe connector plate with fewer than the at least two legacy moduleconnectors. The method 600 attaches the connector plate and the improvedelectrical module to legacy chassis, 606, so that an equal a number ofconnectors on the back side of the connector plate communicate with anequal number of legacy chassis connectors on the legacy chassis.

The attaching the connector plate and the improved electrical module canfurther include attaching the improved electronic module behind some ofthe legacy chassis connectors on the legacy chassis so that it does notoccupy area behind all of the legacy chassis connectors that theconnector plate connects to on the legacy chassis. A passive electronicmodule such as a power amplifier (PA) can also be attached to a dummyconnector on the connector plate so that the passive electronic moduleis directly behind at least one chassis connector that the improvedelectrical module is not directly behind. The dummy connector can begrounded so that the PA does not electrically communicate with the dummyconnector.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity,clearness, and understanding. No unnecessary limitations are to beimplied therefrom beyond the requirement of the prior art because suchterms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadlyconstrued. Therefore, the invention is not limited to the specificdetails, the representative embodiments, and illustrative examples shownand described. Thus, this application is intended to embracealterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope ofthe appended claims.

Moreover, the description and illustration of the invention is anexample and the invention is not limited to the exact details shown ordescribed. References to “the preferred embodiment”, “an embodiment”,“one example”, “an example”, and so on, indicate that the embodiment(s)or example(s) so described may include a particular feature, structure,characteristic, property, element, or limitation, but that not everyembodiment or example necessarily includes that particular feature,structure, characteristic, property, element or limitation. Furthermore,repeated use of the phrase “in the preferred embodiment” does notnecessarily refer to the same embodiment, though it may.

What is claimed is:
 1. A connector plate comprising: a plate bracket,with a front side, a back side and an opening; a module connector withinthe opening configured to connect to an electronic module, wherein themodule connector is accessible from the opening from the front side ofthe plate bracket; at least two chassis connectors located on the backside of the bracket plate configured to be connected a legacy chassis oran advanced chassis, wherein the legacy chassis and the advanced chassisdo not expect signals from the same number of the at least two chassisconnectors; and routing logic to route signals from the module connectorto each of the at least two chassis connectors.
 2. The connector plateof claim 1 further comprising: a dummy connector located on the frontside of the bracket plate configured to provide physical support to anelectronic module.
 3. The connector plate of claim 1 further comprisinga metallic plating on the dummy connector and wherein the dummyconnector is configured to be electrically grounded.
 4. The connectorplate of claim 1 further comprising: a sealing ring on the back side ofthe plate bracket and around the opening on the plate bracket configuredto create a water tight seal with the electronic module when theconnector plate is connected to the electronic module.
 5. The connectorplate of claim 1 further comprising: a printed circuit board (PCB) andwherein the routing logic is printed on the PCB and the module connectoris mounted on the PCB.
 6. The connector plate of claim 5 wherein the PCBis between the at least two chassis connectors and the plate bracket. 7.The connector plate of claim 5 further comprising: a gasket between thePCB and the at least two chassis connectors.
 8. The connector plate ofclaim 7 further comprising: a sealing ring located between the gasketand the back side of the plate bracket configured to provide a watertight connection between the gasket and the plate bracket.
 9. Theconnector plate of claim 1 wherein the at least two chassis connectorsfurther comprise: a first chassis connector; a second chassis connector;and wherein the routing logic further comprises: wiring to route a firstset of signals from the module connector to the first chassis connectorand wiring to route a second set of signals from the module connector tothe second chassis connector.
 10. The connector plate of claim 9 furthercomprising wherein first set of signals are radio transmit signals andthe second set of signals are radio receive signals.
 11. The connectorplate of claim 1 further comprising: a PCB on which the module connectoris mounted; and screws for screwing the at least two chassis connectorsto the plate bracket with the PCB between the at least two chassisconnectors and the plate bracket.
 12. A system for connecting anelectronic module to a legacy chassis comprising: first and secondconnectors adapted to connect to two connectors on the legacy chassis; adual connector plate with a back side and a front side including achamber with an opening in the front side of the dual connector plate;an electronic module connector extending at least partly form the backside into the chamber, wherein the electronic module connector isconfigured to connect to a complementary connector in the electronicmodule; wires to route signals from the electronic module connector tothe first chassis connector; and wires to route signals from theelectronic module connector to the second chassis connector, wherein thewires routing signals from the electronic module connector to the firstchassis connector route different signals than the wires routing signalsfrom the electronic module connector to the second chassis connector.13. The system for connecting an electronic module to a legacy chassisof claim 12 further comprising: a filler device configured to fill aspace not occupied by the electronic module when the electronic moduleis connected to the dual connector plate and the dual connector plate isconnected to the legacy chassis.
 14. The system for connecting anelectronic module to a legacy chassis of claim 13 wherein the fillerdevice is a block-shaped filler device and further comprises: air ventopenings at least partially complementary and adjacent to cooling areason the electronic module.
 15. The system for connecting an electronicmodule to a legacy chassis of claim 13 further comprising: attachmentdevices for rigidly attaching the filler device to the electronicmodule.
 16. The system for connecting an electronic module to a legacychassis of claim 12 further comprising: a blank connector on the frontside of the dual connector plate and adjacent the opening, wherein theblank connector is opposite the first chassis connector that is on theback side of the dual connector plate.
 17. The system for connecting anelectronic module to a legacy chassis of claim 16 wherein the blankconnector is shaped to provide physical support to an electronic modulethat does not require an electrical connection to the blank connector.18. The system for connecting an electronic module to a legacy chassisof claim 12 further comprising: a printed circuit board (PCB) with theelectronic module connector mounted on the PCB, wherein the wiresrouting signals from the electronic module connector to the firstchassis connector, and the wires routing signals from the electronicmodule connector to the second chassis connector are formed on the PCB.19. The system for connecting an electronic module to a legacy chassisof claim 18 further comprising: a gasket between the PCB and the firstand second connectors configured to create a water tight connectionbetween the PCB and the first and second connectors.
 20. The system forconnecting an electronic module to a legacy chassis of claim 19 furthercomprising: a sealing ring between the gasket and the back side of thedual connector plate to create a water tight connection between thegasket and the dual connector plate.